Stair tread



Sept. f5, 1925;

P. L. PRICE STAIR TREAD Filed Jan. 8, 1925 INVENTOR 041/ q 1 a- ATTORNEY r Patented Sept. 1925.

- UNITED STATES [PATENT OFFICE; 1

PAUL LEON rmcn, or room men, 'mrw Your, ASSIGNOB 'ro' mvnm mo! 'wonxs comm, a conrona'nox or NEW YORK,

sum ram.

Application filed January 8, 1925. Serial Io. 1,148.

To all whom it may oo'rwem:

Be it known that'I, PAUL LEON PRICE,

- a citizen of the United States of America,

residing at Mount Vernon, county of Westchester, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stair Treads, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to Stairways and steps in the form of metal gratings and v more particularly comprises improvements by which the front portion of each such stair-tread may be easily distinguished 1n appearance from the next underlying tread,

ture is so skeletonized and permeable to light that a person looking down on the stairs cannot always tell where one tread ends and another begins, and, if he miscalculates his movements as the result ofthis uncertainty, he may miss his footing and experience a bad fall. My present invention overcomes this difiiculty by increasing the visibility of the front edge of each stair tread by making the grating along that edge in one or more spaces of finer, or closer or different mesh than is the remainder of the grating of that tread. The front edge portion of each stair-tread being thus less permeable to light than the rear portion of the tread beneath it, the line of demarcation between any two successive steps becomes thereby clear and easily discernible to any one walking or looking down the stairs or steps.

The best form of apparatus embodying my invention at present known to me is illustrated in the accompanying sheet of drawings in which,

Fig. 1- is a plan view of a stair-tread with parts broken away, 7

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same, parts being broken away,

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on line 34) of Fig. 1, a d

Fig. 4 is a perspective view, ona smaller scale, of a fllght of stairs embodying the invention.

Throughout the drawings like reference characters indicate like parts.

parts being broken away,

Each stair-tread is usually composed of a I rectangular frame of metal having longer SIdB' pieces, 1'and2, and shorter end pieces 3 and 4, and a panel of any desired form of grating here shown said grating consists of the parallel straight bars 8, 8, spaced apart by retlculated strips 10, 11, all these being riveted or welded together or tions ofthe surrounding frame. The ends of some-or all of the straight bars may be supported by inwardly bent ton es of metal 7, out from the frame en pieces According to my invention certain of the, stralght bars 8, 8, nearest the'frame side bar 1 (which is to form the front of the step or stair-tread) are preferably set more closely together than are the straight bars placed within, said frame. As

to adjacent porlocated at other portions of the tread, and

the wider spacing is also preserved between the rearmostbar 8, .and the back frame bar The result is, even if the rivet spac- 1ng 1s umform throughout, that the front section 5 ofeach skeleton tread so formed presents a finer mesh of grating than does the rear portion 6- (see Fig. 4). Consequently w on a series of such varied mesh gratings are set in supports 9, 9, to form a flight of stairs or ladder, as shown in Fig. 4, and one looks down said stairs, the successive treads do not appear to merge one into another and form an expanse of grating of uncertain surface contour, as is sometimes the case when uniform mesh gratings are used throughout the stairtreads. On the-contrary, when my invention is used, the finer or otherwise different .mesh front edge of each tread, bein less permeable to light or otherwise di erentiated in appearance, is clearly defined and sharply contrasted against thewider or other mesh rear portions of the next lower step which are more permeable to 11 ht or otherwise distinctive and present a di erent appearance. Thls brings out to the eye of the observer the successive stair-treads in true perspective and the user can readily tel] 'ust where to place either foot in descen ing such a stairway.

Preferably I further add to this differentiation in the ap earance and visibility of the front edge 0? each ste by making the front frame bar 1 thereo thicker and heavier than is the rear frame bar 2.

Both the above described novel features of construction also serve a useful purpose by increasing the wear resisting and weight sustaining qualities of the front portion of each stair tread or ste and this is important as that portion 1s always subjected to much greater wear than are other portions of each tread, as the average user treads only on the front part of each step or stair, and are subjected to greater shocks if a heavy object is dropped on or rolls down the stairs.

While I have illustrated a partlcular type of mesh in the grating shown and particular ways of fastening the structural elementstogether, it is to be understood, of course, that the invention is not limited to these details but might be embodied in other forms of grating, with other forms of fastening and frames of other shape.

The reticulated strips 10, 10, between these bars 8, 8, which are set closer together at the front of each tread are, of course, bent to a less degree than are the strips 11, 11, placed between the more widely spaced bars 8, 8, at the rear portion of each tread.

Having described my invention, I claim: 1. As a new article of manufacture, a grating adapted for use as a step, the mesh of which gratings while continuous, is of a 2. As a new article of manufacture,

iron grating adapted for use as a stair tread, which said grating com rises a rectangular frame, a serles of paralibl straight bars extending I len hwise of said frame and a series of retlculated spacing strips between said bars, the bars. nearest that side of the rectangular frame intended for the front of the step being spaced closer together than are the remaining bars.

3. A combination such as set forth in claim 2 in which the ortion of the rectangular frame forming t e front of the step is thicker than the remainder of said frame.

4. A stairway having treads of gratin",

the mesh of that portion of the grating ofeach tread adjacent the front of the stairway being closer than that of the remaining portion of said tread'whereby the relative visibility of the front portion of each stair tread is increased.

5. A stair tread for use in skeleton stair ways comprising a grating, the front portion of .which grating inside of the outer supporting bar for said grating contains a larger amount of metal per unit of superficial area; whereby it is made of stronger construction than are the rear portions of said grating. v

6. A stair-tread for use in skeleton stairways comprising a grating the front portion of which tread is made of grating of a different mesh than that of which the other portions are composed.

. PAUL LEON PRICE. 

